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Geothermal Energy Name: Geothermal Energy or Geothermal Power. Description: Geothermal Energy is produced from the heat within the Earth. The word "geothermal" comes from the Greek words geo, meaning earth," and therme, meaning, "heat." We use geothermal energy to produce electricity. The geothermal energy works by using hot rocks underground which heat water to produce steam. We drill holes down to the hot region, steam comes up, is purified and used to drive turbines, which drive electric generators. Using geothermal energy to produce electricity is a relatively new industry. It was initiated by a group of Italians who built an electric generator at Lardarello in 1904. The first attempt to develop geothermal power in the United States came in 1922 at The Geysers steam field in northern California. The project failed because the pipes and turbines could not stand up to the corrosion of the particles that were in the steam. There are four main kinds of geothermal resources: hydrothermal, geopressured, hot dry rock, and magma. Today hydrothermal resources are the only kind in wide use. The other three resources are still in the early stages of development. Hydrothermal resources have the common ingredients